1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a defibrillator of the type having a storage capacitor and a coil that are connectable via biological tissue to form an RLC discharge circuit, to which a measuring stage is coupled via a transformer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A defibrillator serves the purpose of terminating ventricular fibrillation with an electrical pulse (electric shock). To that end, electrical energy that is stored in a storage capacitor (discharge capacitor) is supplied to biological tissue, for example, heart muscle tissue, via an induction coil in a discharge circuit. The desired curve (shape) of the electrical pulse is essentially defined by the coil. In order to be able to identify the output electrical energy and/or the resistance of the patient tissue, a transformer for coupling-out a measured signal is additionally provided in a branch of the discharge circuit that is connectable to the patient via electrodes, this transformer having its secondary side connected to a measuring shape. The coupling-out transformer is fashioned as a current transformer. The measuring shape measures the peak value occurring at the secondary side of the transformer. The patient resistance and/or the output energy to the patient are identified from the measured peak value with, for example, a microprocessor, and taking the energy stored in the storage capacitor into consideration. In such a defibrillator, the space required for the necessary component parts in the discharge circuit is problematical, particularly when the defibrillator must be implantable into the patient. The weight of the defibrillator also increases with the size and number of component parts.